stephen



an @am a my man j y f Be l it `lmown thatl I, STEPHEN of"` Carlisle, `Schoharie county, Statevof New y York, have inventeda Portable Ladder` for aFire-Escape or for Anyl Purposetowhich following@ specification, l with `the drawings aceuratedescription thereofg,` j j 1 jFigurel represents inpr file atladder of j three sections, with.; the apparatus for elee vating and sustainingit.` FgQeXhibts in j perspective the lower side of the upper end` OfoneMbfthe sections,jshowing the rack j teeth etc,

showsasection intothewlower endof the i upper ladder, with the-arrangement of the j detent that j keep ioverajndother.` j y height. to` support the sections of the la`d-` j l der, andof` proper width; to allowthe'mto @lie between its"`sides and of length enough 1 upper section at 71,. The lower end of the uppersection has attached toit a projecting `rjto "carry the elevating apparatus.

by the deviceshereinafter described, C being inthe progress ofy extension beyond B and` coming up' from behind it.` .uWhenV the `ladders arefdowihndlie in theirplacesS ofeach being onythe platform Pand the j bottom of B/being hinged to the platform at H. `This platform slides a small distance back fand forth to accommodate itself to the v j movement" of thefladders, as `theyl riseand t fall; the pressure of the sections behind each other forcing the whole mass `to the front, and `their rising drawing the platform back i again. To move the sections up and down there are a pair of toothed wheels W on one axis one for each side of the ladder, taking l j into the under side of ajrack E attached to each under side of the ladder; the rack being constructed l in the manner shown in Fig.2. i j Tj The winch ratchet y and pall z for `these wheels are shown in Fig. 1.` v

To keep the sections in their places as "they move upandfdown, besides the wheel W, there is a roller R fixed on theframe `below the ladder, and; another Gr `placed `above the ladder about equi-distant from the roller R and the point where the wheel R. `Rosoon,

" a Ladder can be Applied; and I declare the j `forming part ofthe same,`to be afull an Fig. 3 exhibits in perspective f the a upper sideh ofqpartof ltwow's'ections, with the lower end oftheyupperfsection y Fig. 4t`

"the sections from sliding B, C, D are the sections ofthebladder,I G and D extendedA and securedto each other nes behind B and. D `tehimi `o, i the. imam` fx N WEBSWFTES PMEN'F @WEGE y y FIRE-QEsCAPE LADDER.

3 lspcifreandaorientare Patent No. 12,643, dateanprii 3, 12355.`

W gears the rack E. The roller Grl is made to press stronglyupon the ladder by means of springs Si, which operates upon the boXes in which the aXis of the roller revolves.`

The apparatus for holding the sections toi ing fitted tofeach other are not cut at right ,angles to their lineof length, but at such an angle that `when. theladder inclines about 25` degrees from the perpendicular the line of junction ofthetwoends will lbe perpendicular. Alongithefouter side of the ladder; anv iron plate wpa, issecured` whose upper end` and loweredge is bentatrightfangles to its plane as J shown at b, The angle of the wood lying next this bent edge is rabbeted out into a groove, and is cut away far enough fromthe iron to allow a bent iron hook to be `passed in at the upper endvof the iron plate and moved along to its bottom at the foot of the section. A bent hook tting this groove is attached near the bottom of the `7s' is fitted into the end of the upper section D. This is a bent latch of iron lying in a cavity in, and passing obliquely through the ladder, and `pivoted at or near its own center so that it can vibrate slightly, vertically, permitting each end to project a little beyond the surface of the ladder or to sink downeven with the same. The latch is kept projecting from theladder, as shown in Fig. 4, by a small spring operating near its lower extremity. The upper end of the latch which projects beyond the under side of the ladder lies in the line of the teeth of the rack E and between two of them, so that a tooth of the wheel W can press it in, and conse quently depress the detent 7c.

The operation of the machine is as follows-The section ladders lie in a tier, one

behind the other, the lowest section in front and the upper section behind, the upper section being the longest and resting against the wheel W. On turning the wheel, the section D m'ounts upward, the iron hook L running along the groove under the iron b, and keeping the ladders together so that when the bottom of section D arrives at the sloping top of C the bottom of D is guided along the top of C until the upper line of the two sections range, and the dovetailed tenon and mortise fit each other, when the detent 7a which has been kept down by the pressure of the ladder above it, springs out and prevents D from sagging back along C. To lower the ladder, the wheel IV' is turned backward, and when the points of junction of two sections have passed just below the wheel, a tooth of it depresses the detent, and allows the upper section to slide down under and along the lower one.

The turning of the wheel in the one direction or the other performs the operation described in succession on any number of sections that may be employed in the construction of the ladder.

I have only described the frame work machinery and ladders, as being all that is essential to describe of my invention, but it is to be understood that the frame is to be mounted upon Wheels, in any convenient method to make the machine portable.

What I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent in the above described sectional ladder for lire-escapes and other purposes, is

1. The combination and arrangement of the mortise m, tenon t, spring latch 70 hook z, and the groove in which it traverses the whole being constructed to operate as described for the purposes set forth:

2. In combination with above described sectional ladder, I claim the traversing platform P and traversing roller G so constructed and arranged as to allow the sections of the ladder to be operated as set forth.

S. R. ROSCOE.

Witnesses:

RICHD. VARISH DE Wrrr, J. B. BRINSMADE, Jr. 

